


Working Man

by TeekiJane



Series: The Boys of Summer [8]
Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 21:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeekiJane/pseuds/TeekiJane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeff goes off for his first day at work and finds out that the housewares business is hopping, in more ways than one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working Man

_It seems to me_  
 _I could live my life_  
 _A lot better than I think I am_  
Rush, Working Man

**Jeff**

About a week after I arrived in Stoneybrook, Mom came home early and we went out shopping for bedding and accessories for my bedroom. Mom had been thrilled when I asked, I think because me redecorating meant I actually planned to spend enough time there for it to be worth it. 

I had planned to just go to Walmart, but Mom wouldn’t hear of it. She’s working as an interior decorator these days and I think she thought it would be the end of her career if someone found out her son’s bedroom was done up in Walmart style. 

So instead she took me to some bedding store in a new shopping strip that had sprung up since the last time I’d spent the summer in town. We’d headed straight to the comforters, where I’d picked out one in navy and burgundy rugby stripes. Mom had found a couple sheet sets and all the other bedding pieces that apparently are necessary, although I’ve never quite understood why someone needs a bed skirt or even quite what a euro sham is. 

On the way out, Mom made me pick up a job application. She went into a couple of clothing stores in the area to do a little shopping and I sat outside and filled out the application while I waited. When she didn’t reappear after half an hour, I went ahead and turned the application in. Apparently, bedding and kitchen supplies is a big business. I got an instant job interview, left the store with a job in the receiving department. 

And so I arrived at Kitchen  & Bath at one in the afternoon that Saturday for my job orientation. The store was crazy busy, but I had been instructed to head to the customer service counter and introduce myself. The girl working the counter was a tiny blonde named Helen. I waited until she was not with a customer. “Hello. I’m here for orientation.” 

She smiled. “I’m expecting a Lindsey and a Jeff,” she said, pushing stray hairs out of her face. “You must be Jeff.” 

I smiled back. “Yup.” 

“Well, I’m Helen, in case the name tag didn’t make that clear. I’m the front end manager. I’ll actually be running your orientation.” She glanced at her watch. “You’re a few minutes early, but in my book that’s a good thing. One of the cashiers is going to be running the counter for the afternoon, but he’s not back from lunch for about five more minutes. Why don’t you look around and I’ll call you back up here when he’s back and Lindsey’s here?” 

I didn’t really want to look around; I was afraid of getting forgotten, quite frankly. Instead, I headed around the corner and started looking at bridal greeting cards. Who knew there were so many different reasons to get a card for someone getting married? I got tired of that after about two minutes. I came around the corner from behind the cards, planning to look at the merchandise next to the customer service counter and I ran smack into Byron. 

He looked surprised, but in a good way. “Hey, Jeff! What are you doing here?” 

Before I could answer, Helen came around the corner with a sturdy, tall girl with dishwater hair that I guessed must be Lindsey. “Byron, good timing! I’m just about to start orientation. Lissa will be joining you up here in half an hour, and Morgan will be in to relieve you at five.” I gaped as she talked to Byron like an old friend…until I realized he was wearing a Kitchen & Bath nametag. This must be what Jordan called Girly Central. 

Helen barreled on, not noticing my surprise. “Have you met Lindsay and Jeff? Lindsey’s taking over Hay’s old spot in towels, and Jeff’s in receiving.” 

Byron smiled at the other girl. “Nice to meet you, Lindsey,” he said. 

Helen eyed him critically. “You and Jeff already know each other?” 

I grinned. “You could definitely say that.” 

By ducked his head and I knew he was blushing as he rubbed his hand across his forehead. Before I could say any more, he looked over my shoulder. “Customers waiting. I’ll call if I need backup.” And with that, he scurried away. 

Helen looked at me oddly. “What’s with him?” she asked. “Never seen him behave like that before. There’s a good reason that he’s only been here a week and I’ve already got him running the counter. You guys good friends?” 

It was my turn to blush a bit. “Yeah. You could say that,” I repeated. 

Lindsey looked around as we walked down the aisle toward the back of the store. “Whoa, bride central,” she said as we walked into a large area full of fancy dishes and gifts made of breakable materials. 

Helen beamed. “This is our new fine table department that we just opened a few weeks ago. Our bridal consultants work out of here. Most of them are on the older side and have been married for a while, although there are a few exceptions.” 

It was then I discovered how big of a loudmouth that Haley can be. She came barreling out of nowhere and enveloped me in a big hug. “Jeff! Are you here to see your sweetie?” Hay let me go. While most of the employees were wearing jeans, sneakers and casual shirts—even the managers like Helen were in relaxed attire—Haley wore a pair of pinstriped pants, black shoes and a white blouse. Her name tag said ‘Hay.’ “He just got back from lunch and I think he’s working customer service for the rest of the day, but I bet you could get a chance to say hi if you stopped by up there…”

Haley suddenly realized that Helen and Lindsey were staring at us; she quit smiling as Helen stepped forward. “Hay? Don’t you have a bridal couple to attend to?” 

Haley backed away. “They’re taken care of for the moment,” she said, almost meekly, but when Helen didn’t stop staring at her, she continued to back up. “Maybe I’ll just go check on them anyway…” Hay added, almost running off. 

Helen diplomatically pretended she hadn’t heard anything Haley said. She continued giving Lindsey and me a tour of the store as we headed back into the room for orientation. We got into the back room and Helen had the two of us take a seat and start filling out employee paperwork. “I’m going to get you two name tags and lockers while you’re working on those. Let me know if you need anything.” 

Almost the second Helen left the room and the door closed behind me, Lindsey looked up from her papers. “That guy at the customer service counter…was he your boyfriend?” 

I didn’t stop filling out my forms or look at her. “Yup.” I could feel her eyes still on me so I gave her more information, knowing she wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. “He only started work about a week ago and I didn’t know he was working _here_. This was just the first place I applied.” 

Lindsey went back to her papers but had a thoughtful look on her face. “You know, he looked really familiar,” she said. “I lived in Stoneybrook until a couple years ago and I feel like I’ve seen both your boyfriend and your friend before. Name Byron sounds familiar too.” 

“Hmmm.” I said, noncommittally. 

Before Lindsey could go on, Helen returned. “Almost got those done? Good! When you’re finished, put on your name tag and I’ll start you into the boring videos…”

***

At five, we got a lunch break—although I’ve never understood why they call it lunch at dinner time. Lindsey and I got to play with our lockers for a few minutes before we clocked out, trying to get the combinations to work. I was having a little trouble with mine, because it felt like someone had stuck gum in the mechanism. After Lindsey left, I was still trying to get mine to open when a wave of people came through the door, getting ready to go home. Haley was near the back of the pack. She snuck up behind me, though I’m not sure she did it on purpose. “Need some help with that thing?” she asked, making me jump. 

“Geez, Haley,” I wheezed, “Is today Give Jeff a Heart Attack Day? Or maybe it's Make Jeff Die of Embarrassment Day?” 

She blushed a little. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here for orientation. Why didn’t By tell me you’d gotten a job here?” 

“Because he didn’t know. I also didn’t know you two worked here.” 

Haley smiled a bit. “Okay, then. I am sorry, you know. But I guess now we’re even for that time back in Ogunquit.” 

I remembered how I embarrassed the hell out of her by telling everyone she’d been making out with Jordan. “Oh, yeah.” I finally got the lock to pop open. “Success! Has By come through here yet?” The room had cleared out, but I hadn’t seen him.

Hay shook her head. “I think Morgan’s late again, and he can’t leave till she gets here or someone else relieves him. Why don’t you go clock out and I’ll treat you to dinner? We’ll eat with you before we go home.” 

I stopped in the doorway to the break room. “Two more things.” 

She didn’t look up from her own locker. “Shoot.” 

“Why does your name tag say Hay?” 

Haley looked at me over her shoulder. “There are already two other Haleys, and they don’t call them by their last names or by first name-last initial. They go by spelling. I didn’t want them spelling my name every time they needed me, so I asked that everyone just call me Hay instead.” 

I nodded. “Okay, makes sense. So what’s the deal with Helen? She seemed really nice until we ran into you.” 

Her eyes narrowed. “That,” she said with a sigh, “is a much longer story. Over dinner? At Papa Sandwich? You ever eat there? You’ll love it; they put sprouts on all their sandwiches. Jordan is working tonight, so I need time with the boys.” Haley looked reflective for a moment. “The _other_ boys.” 

I grinned at that. “I’ll meet you and Byron up front in a minute.” Before I wrote my time on the clock in sheet, I thought about Kitchen  & Bath for a moment. I’d only been working there for four hours and I’d already run into a hornet’s nest full of drama. The real question was whether By and I working in the same store was going to be an issue. 

I clocked out and headed to meet my friends in the front of the store.


End file.
